Snow thrower safety guard



Feb. 24, 1970 s, c, HETH ETAL 3,497,263

SNOW THROWER SAFETY GUARD Filed April 17. 1968 United States Patent US. Cl. 30259 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A snow thrower safety guard having a snow discharge chute disposed adjacent a snow impeller, and with the chute having an inlet opening and a discharge passageway. A safety guard is disposed to extend across the passageway, to prevent a person from placing a hand into the chute and into contact with the impeller. The safety guard is movable under the influence of snow flowing through the chute, to allow the snow to move through the passageway. The guard is mounted with respect to the chute so as to avoid interference with the flow of snow through the chute, and the guard is-not subject to being rendered immobile or inoperative by packing snow or by freezing snow.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a snow thrower safety guard.

Snow throwers are commonly provided with snow pickup augers and with snow-throwing members or impellers which direct the snow through a discharge chute. These snow throwers are of a powered type, and the rotation of the impeller has been known to cause damage to an operators hand when the operator inserts a hand into the chute and down to the impeller. The operator is inclined to insert his hand when snow is blocking the openings and passageways for the flow of snow.

In the construction of a discharge chute, it is preferred that the chute be of a length only sufficient to deflect the flow of snow from virtually an upright direction to a horizontal direction, so that the discharged snow can be blown away from the snow thrower. Thus the discharge chute is preferably only of a length sufficient to curve the path of flow of the snow so it can be thrown in a trajectory to land away from the snow thrower. To accomplish this, the discharge chute is commonly open on one side thereof, and it commonly has a curved wall on the other side thereof to deflect the upward flow of snow, as mentioned. Also, the chute need not be of a long length. The features of an open-sided chute and a short chute make it relatively easy for an operator to insert a hand into the chute and into the path of the impeller spaced below the chute.

In the general art of chute construction and the flow of material through a chute, including rotary lawn mower spouts or chutes, agricultural implement chutes, air-flow vents or chutes, it is common knowledge to have guards, even safety-type guards, extending across the path of flow through the chute. Such guards are also commonly made to be movable, so that they will move out of the chute pas sageway under the influence of material flowing through the chute. Further, these prior art guards are known to be normally positioned across the chute passageway, to prevent a person from reaching into the chute or otherwise extending a foot or hand into the chute.

However, chutes of the type mentioned are commonly not concerned with the provision of a safety guard on a snow thrower chute, or the like, where the material flowing through the chute is of a nature such that it can impede the movement of the otherwise movable guard, thereby hamper the safety aspect of the guard. That is, in conr: 3 ICE sidering a safety guard on a snow chute, there is the problem of the snow packing around the guard and thereby preventing movement of the guard, and there is also the problem of having snow melt and then having the water freeze on the guard and again impede the movement of the guard. These problems are particularly prevalent where the chute guard is of a hinged type for providing flapping or hinged movement of the guard with respect to the chute discharge passageway.

In addition to the problems of working with compactableand freezable material, such as snow, there is the problem of using this particular chute guard in freezing temperatures. Thus, the materials employed in the guard must be useful in freezing temperatures and they should not bind, break, become unduly stifI', or otherwise react to freezing temperatures to impair their intended functions.

Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide a snow thrower chute guard which will overcome the aforementioned problems, and which will be operative and reliable under conditions conducive to having the snow pack and also having the snow freeze. It is a further object of this invention to provide a chute guard which will provide a safety means against a person inserting a hand into the chute, but which will not impede the operation of the chute in directing and deflecting the snow flowing through the chute. In fact, it is an object of this invention to provide a chute guard which will enhance the flow of snow through the chute, so that the snow can be directed as desired, while the guard also provides a safety means against a person inserting a hand into the chute.

It is of further concern, and a further object of this invention, to make the safety guard of a light weight and flexible material with a high impact strength, and of a material which is not susceptible to cracking, stiffening, or otherwise deteriorating under extreme temperature conditions, including the cold temperatures of northern climates of this country.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of a snow thrower incorporating a preferred embodiment of this invention, and with the thrower being fragmentarily shown and showing it in its position of safety use.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view like FIG. 1, without the operators hand and with parts added and parts removed.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of a portion of FIG. 1, and showing the safety guard in three different positions.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the safety guard shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A snow thrower is shown to include a snow pick-up auger 10, suitably disposed in a snow thrower housing 11, and the snow thrower includes the housing 12 which is in snow-flow communication with the auger 10. A chute 13 is mounted on the housing 12 to be rotatable thereon, and it has a band 14 encircling a circularly shaped base plate 16 which is aflixed as a part of the chute 13. Thus the plate 16 is rotatable in the band 14 which in turn is mounted on the housing 12. It will therefore be understood that through suitable means (not shown) the chute 13 can be rotated about its upright or vertical axis for deflecting the flow of snow through the chute 13 and to a position spaced away from the thrower. Such deflection generally causes the snow to move in an arcuate path, and generally horizontally to a desired point of deposit of the snow.

FIG. 2 shows a snow impeller 17 to be included in the snow thrower and to be rotatably mounted about they axis of its shaft 18. The auger therefore feeds snow to the impeller 17 which in turn throws the snow upwardly and through the chute 13. Actually, the snow thrower could be operating without an impeller 17, in that the impeller means could be made integral with the auger 10, and such alternate impeller means would likewise then throw the snow into and through the chute 13, as desired.

The aforementioned is the common and well-known design of a snow thrower, and of its parts, and such is shown in U.S. Patent N0. 3,214,223.

Thus the chute 13 is also shown to include a ring 19 aflixed to the circular plate 16 for rotation therewith, and the chute body or duct portion 21 is in turn aflixed to the ring 19, so that all rotates with the rotation of the plate 16.

The chute has an inlet opening 22, extending through the plate 16 and through the interior of the ring 19 and into the body portion 21. The body portion 21 is generally of a U-shape in plan section, and it is commonly made of a sheet metal matreial. The chute 13 also has a passageway 23 and an outlet opening 24, with the latter being at the upper end of the chute 13. Thus snow will move through the opening 22 and through the passageway 23 and out the outlet opening 24. The body portion 21 of the chute 13 therefore includes the side walls 26 and 27 and the arcuate or rear wall 28. The wall 28 extends across the axis of the chute opening 22, and snow is normally impinged onto the wall 28 to be defected toward a horizontal path in order to deposit the snow away from the thrower, in the usual manner.

Therefore, the chute 13 has its side opposite the wall 28 completely open and available for the exhaust of the snow from the chute 13. In this arrangement, it is of course important to keep the interior of the arcuate wall 28 free of any projections or obstacles which would impede the flow of snow through the chute 13.

The feature of this invention is the provision of a safety guard 29 mounted to extend across the chute passageway 23 and to thereby block the entrance to the chute inlet opening 22 from the exterior of the chute 13. That is, FIG. 1 shows that an operators hand 31 cannot be inserted into the chute opening 22, because of the presence and the particular position and shape of the guard 29.

The guard 29 is aflixed to the chute 13 at the lower end 32 of the guard 29 and by means of the screws 33 extending through holes 34 in the guard 29 and into the chute ring 19. The guard then extends to terminate in its upper end 34 in the chute passageway 23, and the end 34 is only slightly spaced from the wall 28 of the chute 13. Such space does not permit the insertion of a persons hand into the chute opening 22, without displacing the guard 29.

FIG. 3 shows that the guard 29 is flexible and can be displaced between the positions shown, and the dot-dash lines 29a show the guard in a position of normal operation when the snow is being blown up the chute 13 and passes the upper edge 36 of the guard 29. Further, when a large quanity of snow is being discharged through the chute 13, the guard 29 will flex to a more extreme position, such as that shown by the dot-dash line 29b. Here again the snow would be flowing over the top of the guard 29. Of course, as shown in FIG. 1, the guard 29 will also flex to the left of its vertical position shown in FIG. 3, such as the direction of flexing shown in FIG. 1 to block the insertion of ones hand into the chute and particularly beyond the opening 22.

Therefore, the guard 29 is normally in the upright position shown in solid lines in FIG. 3 when the thrower is not operating. Also, the guard is of a thin sheet material, preferably a plastic material of high impact strength, so that foreign objects thrown against it will not damage the sheet, and it is of high flexibility so that it will immediately recover to its planar or vertical position after being bent to the extreme position shown by dot-dash lines 29b. Actually, the flexed guard, in the positions of 29a and 29b, will enhance the directional discharge of the snow through the chute 13, in addition to providing a safety guard when the chute is not discharging snow and the guard 29 is extending across the passageway 23.

It will also be noted in the FIG. 1 position that the guard side edges 37, along with the top edge 36, are rectilinearly disposed so that they form a shape approximately that of the U-shape plan cross-section of the chute 13, and a guard 29 thus occupies and fills the passageway in the chute 13 when the guard 29 is deflected as shown in FIG. 1.

A support 38 is also aflixed, relative tothe chute 13, by the screws 33, and it extends upwardly from the guard lower end 32, and FIG. 3 shows the support slightly spaced away from the guard 29. Thus, in the position of the guard shown by lines 29a, the guard 29 does not engage the support 38, though it does engage the support 38 in the position shown by lines 29b. This arrangement therefore permits the guard 29 to flex at a point closer to its lower edge 39, in the initial flexing of the guard 29 as shown by lines 29a, and it then has the guard 29 flex at a higher point, when the guard is in an advanced position of flexing, such as shown by lines 2%.

That is, the guard 29 is therefore easily flexed through its initial flexing, but it becomes eifectively stifler when greater flexing occurs. This is accomplished by having the lower end 32 of the guard 29 of a narrower width than the width across the guard upper end 34. Since the sheet 29 is of uniform flexing characteristics, except for its Width, the narrower width at the lower end 32 gives greater flexing. The support 38 is fixedly mounted and rigid, and it has a cross piece 41 spaced from the sheet 29 at the wide part of the sheet 29, and this creates another line of flexing of the sheet.

Thus, FIG. 2 shows the initial flexing area between the lines 42 and 43, and it shows the stiffer flexing line 44 which engages the cross piece 41. Also, the cross piece 41 provides a larger moment arm on the sheet 29 for bending the sheet about its lower end 32. So the sheet 29 is not cracked or fractured in its fully flexed position of almost a right angle. The sheet is of a linear polyethelene, trademarked Marlex type 50 12.

This makes the sheet 29 of two spring rates, so the sheet can easily flex at first, and so it will not be damaged when subjected to greater flexing conditions.

The support 38 is shown to be a U-shaped piece of a minimum body so no snow or ice can accumulate between the sheet 29 and the support 38 to prevent flexing of the sheet 29. The support 38 is shown formed of wire, and it engages the guard 29 along the line 44 on the wider part of guard 29 to avoid breaking the guard, as might occur if the guard were subjecting it to its complete bending across its narrower width only.

What is claimed is:

1. In a snow thrower, a rotatably mounted powerdriven snow impeller, a snow discharge chute in snowflow communication with said impeller and having a snow inlet opening and a snow passageway and a snow outlet opening for the flow of snow through said chute, said chute including a wall on one side thereof and defining said snow passageway and extending in the direction across the axis of said snow inlet opening to have the snow being thrown by said impeller impinge against said wall and be deflected by and flow along said wall, the improvement comprising a flexible sheet presenting a guard of a size similar to the cross-sectional area of said passageway in the direction across the flow of snow through said passageway and being flexible into and out of the path of flow of snow blown through said chute by said impeller, said guard being attached at one end and relative to said chute to extend from the side of said chute opposite said one wall and to a location with the free end of said guard being slightly spaced from said one wall, said guard being a flexible sheet planarly disposed and being of a stiflness to extend across said passageway when said thrower is not operating and to thereby prevent a person from inserting a hand into said chute and past said guard, and with said guard being flexible to be responsive to the flow of snow through said chute to move out of the path of flow of snow when said thrower is operating.

2. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein said guard is mounted on said chute to be affixed thereto at said one end of said guard at a location adjacent said inlet opening, and with said guard extending from said inlet opening in said free end at a location adjacent said outlet opening.

3. The subject matter of claim 2, wherein said sheet is of a narrow width at said one end and is correspondingly highly flexible at said one end, and said sheet is of a wider width at a location between said one end and said free end and is flexible at said wider width to an amount correspondingly less than the flexibility at said one end.

4. The subject matter of claim 1, including a support on said chute and extending adjacent said sheet and being in contact with said sheet at least upon initial flexing of said sheet under the influence of the flow of snow against said sheet for restricting the flexing of said sheet under the influence of the flow of snow.

5. The subject matter of claim 4, wherein said support extends adjacent said sheet to be in said contact therewith at a location between said ends for restricting the flexing of said sheet on said sheet adjacent said one end.

6. The subject matter of claim 4, wherein said support is of a wire form to be narrow and free of any body which would form a pocket with said sheet for the accumulation of snow between said support and said sheet to thereby impede flexing of said sheet toward said support.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,588,745 6/1926 Kear et al 30237 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,016 5/ 1891 Great Britain.

438,590 12/1926 Germany.

ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 2301l4; 30237 

